The giant bird dove, its enormous claws outstretched. Each talon was the size of a motorcycle, which meant that Zeke was definitely at a size disadvantage. Yet, he stood his ground, shoving mana into a skill as he hefted his hammer.

When the monstrous raptor descended upon him, he swung.

And the momentum of a thousand other swings was loosed upon the creature.

Although, Zeke didn’t only use [Unleash Momentum]. In addition, he laced the powerful skill with as much of his Will as he could handle without tearing himself apart. It was barely more than a thread woven through the expression of the skill, but it was more than enough to send its destructive power into an entirely different realm of devastation.

Once, Zeke had destroyed a quarter of a city with [Unleash Momentum]. That had been an accident, and one he’d regretted the moment he’d seen the aftermath of his reckless use of the skill. This time, though, he was entirely in control.

The devastation was still similar.

Perhaps even more expansive.

The moment the force hit the roc, its course was diverted, then reversed. After less than an instant, it was flying backward as the shockwave drove it into the jungle. Trees snapped like twigs as the impact of Zeke’s skill tore through them like a tornado toppling a house of cards.

And it kept going for half a mile.

The earth was sundered, ripped apart even as roots tore free, and any animal unlucky enough to find themselves in Zeke’s path was killed. The closest, all of which happened to be aviakis, simply burst under the pressure. Blood and feathers misted into the air, only to be destroyed by Zeke’s will. That level of devastation only lasted for a few dozen feet, but from the stream of kill energy Zeke was awarded, he knew that the death toll rose into the hundreds. Perhaps thousands.

But it didn’t include the roc.

Even as the avian monster recovered – it had been knocked nearly a mile away – Zeke prepared himself for the continuation of the battle. Once again, he stood his ground as, minutes later, the creature emerged from the ruined forest.

It was not in good shape, either. One of its wings had been ripped completely from its body, leaving only a long and jagged wound atop a short stump. It moved with a limping waddle, and rightly so – the thing’s left talon was a destroyed mess of blood and bone, though the monster still seemed capable of putting weight on the ruined limb.

When it reached the tree line, the roc let out an unholy screech that felt like a physical blow. Zeke staggered backward, barely capable of keeping his balance. His head swam, and his organs felt on the verge of bursting. Nearby, aviakis fell to the roc’s auditory attack, bleeding from their mouths and eyes.

Across the battlefield, Zeke saw Talia stumble, then fall. His heart skipped a beat as he remembered the fate of Carlos. The man had been a glass cannon who depended solely on his mobility to avoid damage. However, the flaw in that tactic had been made clear when he’d been incapable of dodging a massive wave of wyrm fire that had incinerated him before he could even react.

It was an abject lesson in skills and attributes. There was a place in the world for all sorts of combatants. However, there was no substitute for obscene endurance. After all, one could not dodge every attack. No – they had to be able to endure. And Carlos’ fate was a grim reminder that not everyone was capable of doing so.

Fortunately, Talia didn’t instantly perish, and out of the corner of his eye, Zeke saw her tip something into her mouth. Likely, that was the Heartsblood Elixir that would fuel her body’s repair.

But Zeke didn’t have time to worry about that. Instead, he needed to focus on the monster coming his way. Even moving with a waddling limp – it wasn’t a terrestrial bird, certainly, and its mobility reflected that – the creature moved incredibly quickly, likely due to the overbearing nature of its stats. With high enough strength, dexterity, and agility, a mostly destroyed leg wasn’t enough to appreciably slow a person – or a beast – down.

In either case, Zeke swung his hammer, activating Voromir’s ability. An enormous, red projection of the weapon manifested, then lashed out, hitting the roc directly in its beak. That shut the thing up, ceasing its aural attack and sending it staggering to the side. However, Zeke wasn’t going to let the thing recover its balance, so he used [Center of Gravity], yanking it in his direction. At the same time, he launched himself forward, intending to meet it with the head of his hammer.

The creature threw its wing out, arresting some of its momentum before Zeke crashed into it. It felt like hitting a mountain, for all the give of the monster’s feathery flesh. Yet, even mountains could fall, and Zeke’s hammer acted like a pickaxe, cracking the bird’s breast.

Zeke didn’t let up, though.

Instead, he activated [Shifting Sands] the moment he hit the ground. Once again, time slowed, and he sank into the ground before rocketing forward only to emerge on the other side of the monster. He erupted from the earth with a shower of rock and fire, hitting the bird’s lone healthy leg with a vicious uppercut that shattered one of its talons.

It screeched, though that ability seemed to be at least partially directional, because with his positioning, he barely felt the effects. The same couldn’t be said for the aviakis, and the ones who’d managed to endure the previous aural attack fell writhing to the ground.

Zeke paid them no mind.

He also forced himself to ignore his concern for Talia. Instead, he focused entirely on the continuing fight as he followed the uppercut with a massive, overhand strike that destroyed another of the creature’s three talons.

That was when it seemed to have had enough, and it threw itself into the air. And despite the fact that it only possessed a single wing, the monstrous bird was still capable of flight. It wasn’t fast. Nor did it seem graceful. But still, it flew.

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Zeke wasn’t going to let it get away, though. So, he once again used [Center of Gravity], reversing its course. It was only partially successful. The skill worked by literally making Zeke the center of gravity, reversing the natural force to bring his foes falling in his direction. However, the roc seemed to possess some sort of ability to manipulate gravity itself, so after falling only a few dozen feet, it righted its course and continued to fly away.

That left Zeke was no idea what to do.

Thankfully, his golems did not share his ignorance, and soon enough, the air was full of bronze spears, each of which tore into the roc’s hide, hooking into its flesh with barbed tips. Attached to the shafts of those spears were ethereal ropes that were normally used to siphon the golems’ foes’ power. However, it worked well enough to keep the roc from flying away.

In fact, Zeke’s [Colossal Army] pulled the monster out of the sky, bringing it back to the ground with a thunderous impact. It resisted, pulling with all its might, but with the golems’ draining its power, it could not escape their grasp. That’s when Zeke hit it again, having leaped high in the air to bring his considerable weight and strength to bear.

Its break cracked under the herculean attack, but the bird was not going to go down without a fight. The moment Zeke fell to the ground in its range, it snapped out with its broken beak, clamping down with a crushing bite. Zeke grunted as his metallic body was crushed, twisting out of shape. He flared [Cambion’s Awakening], but it wasn’t enough to keep up with the damage.

Fortunately, Talia had recovered, and as Zeke tried to leverage the beak open, he saw his ally scythe through the monster’s leg with an explosion of pure rot. Then, she leaped upon its back and went to work with her elongated claws. Zeke had seen [Calcification] at work, but the skill had clearly evolved, because her claws had grown to more than a foot long.

But they were flimsy. Nor were they awkward. Instead, they sliced through the monster’s hide with enviable ease.

Meanwhile, Zeke used the creature’s distraction to his advantage, levering the beak open and breaking free. The moment he escaped and the pressure ceased, [Cambion’s Awakening] caught up, repairing the immense damage Zeke had incurred.

He rolled away as the monster crashed down. With both of its legs having been destroyed, it could only writhe in pain as Talia continued her assault. But the danger had not passed, and every cry it let loose carried with it the aural attack, though it seemed to have weakened alongside the creature’s body.

It would have been pitiful if it didn’t make Zeke feel like his insides were bursting from the explosive pressure the attacks caused. But with pain coursing through his body, Zeke only felt resolved to end it.

So, as soon as he managed to push himself to his feet, he leaped back into the fray, bringing his hammer down with inevitable force. It smashed into the creature’s skull – just below the eye socket – shattering bones upon impact. Even that wasn’t enough to stop it, so after Zeke landed, he grabbed hold of a handful of feather’s for balance, then proceeded to hammer the point of weakness he’d caused.

In the end, it took five long minutes – every second filled with another attack – for the monster to fall unconscious. Even after that, it was another few minutes before it finally succumbed to the massive damage Zeke and Talia had caused. The monster fought most of the way – at least so long as it was conscious – but it had been robbed of most of its weapons.

If it had been a sapient fighter, it would have had many more abilities to use. From Zeke’s perspective, that was one of the major differences between monsters and people. Monsters were powerful, often with higher effective attributes than people. They were normally equipped with a strong ability or two, as well. However, people generally had access to ten or more skills, some with very different effects.

So, monsters were strong but limited. People were comparatively weaker, but with a host of skills meant to combat a variety of different situations.

By the time the monster died, Zeke had recovered almost entirely, save for a little residual weakness caused by the extended period fueling [Triune Colossus] with demonic mana. However, because of his efforts training his body to endure that caustic corruption, there would be no lasting effects.

“My little boy is growing up,” Eveline said with faux sweetness.

Zeke rolled his eyes, inwardly saying, “That statement was extremely off-putting, just so you know.”

“Why?”

“You know why,” Zeke said, pushing her away. He didn’t lock her behind [Bulwark of the Triumvirate], but they’d developed a sense for one another’s moods. And to keep the peace, when one didn’t feel like speaking, the other generally ignored them. It wasn’t perfect, but having a foreign presence in his mind would never be ideal. Certainly, Eveline had proven herself a hundred times over, and Zeke considered her a friend. Perhaps even his best friend. Yet, with such close proximity came inevitable clashes of personality.

He reached down, looting the monster. Much of its mass disappeared, leaving behind only a few bits of broken skeleton, a pile of innards, and the thing’s shattered beak. But because of the creature’s size, he received more than a few tons of edible meat.

“Maybe it’ll taste like chicken,” he said. While, on paper, the tower’s dietary needs were met by the vast farms on the Craftsman’s Terrace, the reality was that everyone needed a bit of protein in their lives. Already, the cyclops meat had begun to run out, so the influx of roc meat would help fill the upcoming void. Perhaps he would make a habit of fighting massive creatures, if only for the influx of meat to feed his people.

Fortunately, the aviaki flock had been killed down to the very last creature. Many had fallen to the roc’s aural attacks, but Zeke and Talia had killed their fair share as well. And because of the vast number of kills – each one with some serious levels – Zeke had managed to gain almost two levels, bringing him to the precipice of level seventy-three.

That highlighted the fact that he needed to work on upgrading his remaining skills, then finishing his level seventy skill. He was almost ready to do the latter, but the former was going to take some time and concerted effort. However, Eveline had repeatedly stressed how important it was to upgrade as many skills as he could before reaching the level seventy-five threshold. Because that level was the first time he would definitely get a system-sanctioned upgrade opportunity, and he wanted as many options as possible so he could choose the very best one.

“What’s wrong?” asked Talia, reminding Zeke that he’d been standing there and staring off into space.

“Just realizing I have a lot of work ahead of me,” he answered with a shake of his head. “I wish I could just hole up and remain in isolation for a year or two. But the world doesn’t want to cooperate with that plan.”

Indeed, most of the world’s powerhouses took their time with leveling. Part of that was due to the ever-increasing dangers required to progress; most people didn’t have Zeke’s a healing skill like [Cambion’s Awakening] or his vast durability. And the ones who lacked those gifts tended to veer toward caution. Zeke’s path would never be described like that, which meant that, even with so many drains on his kill energy, he’d always leveled extremely quickly.

However, that came with the issue of never really settling into his power. With everything constantly changing – and with other things requiring his attention – it was remarkable that he’d managed to accomplish so much, regarding the development of his skills.

“Some people would call you an idiot savant,” Eveline remarked. “Not me. Obviously. I would never be so crude. But others don’t possess my tact.”

Zeke just shook his head before embarking on a quest to loot as many of the aviaki as possible. Fortunately, the upgrade from [Colossal Legion] to [Colossal Army] came with increased self-repair abilities for the golems, so a few of them had managed to become ambulatory enough to help with the task.

Still, it took no small amount of time before, at last, everything had been looted. So, Zeke and Talia approached the temple, recognizing that it was the path they were meant to follow. After all, the roc had felt a bit like a sub-boss, which was usually an indication that they were on the right track.

With that buoying his spirits, Zeke led Talia through the temple’s front gates.